'I was very insulted when he talked to Khabib': Kevin Holland's coach reflects upon the Derek Brunson loss ahead of UFC Vegas 23

Kevin Holland’s coach has reflected upon Derek Brunson's loss ahead of Holland’s UFC Vegas 23 matchup.

Travis Lutter, who’s served as Holland’s head coach for more than a decade now, criticized his pupil for talking to Khabib Nurmagomedov during the Brunson fight.

Kevin Holland earned widespread praise from the MMA community in 2020. The young middleweight star amassed a five-fight winning streak in 2020 and tied the record for the most UFC wins in a single calendar year. Holland was hailed as 2020’s UFC breakout star and was riding high on this momentum when he entered his fight against Derek Brunson.

Holland was defeated by Brunson via unanimous decision in their five-round middleweight bout that headlined the UFC on ESPN: Brunson vs. Holland (March 20th, 2021) event. Despite being outworked for the better part of their grappling-heavy contest, Holland never stopped talking to Brunson.

Not only did Kevin Holland talk to Brunson, but also to former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was sitting octagon-side watching the fight. Holland was subsequently the recipient of significant criticism from many in the MMA world. They opined that Holland could’ve saved the time and energy he spent on talking and spent it on fighting instead.

One of the most talked-about moments during Kevin Holland’s performance in the fight came when he asked Khabib Nurmagomedov for coaching advice on how to deal with Brunson’s grappling. Holland head coach Travis Lutter addressed this during a recent interview with ESPN MMA. Lutter stated –

"I was very insulted when he talked to Khabib…'Listen, I'm your coach. I'm standing right f***ing here. Why don't you talk to me?' He thinks what he's doing is selling it, and it's going to keep people watching, but he was disrespecting me. He didn't mean it that way, but that's what he was doing in that moment. That said, I failed as a coach to get him back on task.”

Travis Lutter emphasized that although he felt disrespected by Kevin Holland seeking coaching advice from Khabib Nurmagomedov mid-fight, he believes that Holland meant that in jest and didn’t intend to hurt him (Lutter).

Kevin Holland aims to return to the win column by defeating Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 23

While Kevin Holland is coming off a one-sided loss, his UFC Vegas 23 opponent has a considerable amount of momentum on his side as he picked up the biggest win of his career in his last fight.

Kevin Holland’s UFC Vegas 23 opponent Marvin Vettori last fought to defeat top-tier middleweight Jack Hermansson at UFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori (December 2020). Vettori was initially scheduled to face Darren Till at UFC Vegas 23. Regardless, Till was coerced to withdraw from the fight late last month due to a collarbone injury.

Till was replaced by Kevin Holland, who took the fight on short notice. Big Mouth, aka the Trailblazer, is now looking to defeat The Italian Dream and return to his winning ways. The winner of the Holland vs. Vettori matchup at UFC Vegas 23 (April 10th, 2021) is likely to be booked in another high-stakes main event bout or in a UFC middleweight title fight in their next octagon outing.